Charlottesville’s mental health response team is becoming part of the city’s public safety infrastructure.
A top official said the city did “very good” at getting snow off roads earlier this month.
Demolition has begun of a former apartment complex to make way for a large student housing building close to UVA Central Grounds.
Those are three things that can be learned from the latest written report from City Manager Sam Sanders to City Council and the public. Here’s more.
NDS report: Long range planning manager to begin work in early February
The city has hired a long range planning manager to serve in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services. Ose Akinlotan will begin work for the city on February 3 after last serving as a planner manager in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Ose will lead planning efforts related to development of planning policy and small area plans in support of the City’s Comprehensive Plan,” reads the report.
The next small area plan is set for the 10th and Page area according to a report given to the Planning Commission in December by NDS Director Kellie Brown.
“Our initial step there will be starting to pull together an understanding of the existing conditions in that neighborhood, and really seeking to identify what are the key issues that can be addressed, that should be addressed, that a small area plan can help resolve, and working with the community as well, collaborating with them to identify those key planning issues,” Brown said at the time.
The report also notes that the city has granted permission for land disturbance to begin at 2117 Ivy Road and 409 Stadium Road. Those are two large residential developments being constructed under the former zoning code on properties within the University of Virginia’s sphere of influence. In the latter, demolition is underway of the former Woodrow Apartments that will be removed to make way for 468 units in what will be called the Verve.
“Both projects are under construction with an anticipated completion date in the spring of 2027,” the report continues.
The city has also taken its last building application made under the 2018 building code with the transition period to the 2021 building code having concluded on Friday.
“This requirement is well known in the building industry and City staff has also been providing reminders to our customers, including an all-inclusive email sent to 285 contractors, architects, engineers, and homeowners,” the report continues.
Top photo credit: Demolition of the former Woodrow Apartments is underway (Credit: Ellen Contini-Morava)
Shelter information
The section from Deputy City Manager Ashley Reynolds Marshall provides helpful information for anyone who might be caught out in the cold without a place to live. We’re still in the season where PACEM provides overnight shelter with a check-in period between 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- The Men’s Shelter Line can be reached at 434-465-1392
- The Women’s Shelter Line can be reached at 434-465-7521
Additionally, the Salvation Army provides overnight shelter but individuals have to pass a breathalyzer and provide a government-issued identification.
Snow report: “Always room for improvement”
The Charlottesville dodged winter snow this past weekend, but the snow event from January 5 and January 6 dropped between four and five inches. Deputy City Manager James Freas described the city’s effort in removing snow from primary roads as “very good” but said there could have been improvements.
“Public Works took on the additional task of clearing sidewalks in the school walk zones in order to support the safe opening of Charlottesville City Schools on Thursday of that week,” Freas wrote in the city manager’s report.
The city issued over 90 citations to enforce the sidewalk clearance ordinance with a priority on school walk zones. City staff had an internal meeting on the response on January 17.
ANCHOR statistics
This fiscal year, the city has created a public safety response team called ANCHOR which stands for “Assisting with Navigation, Crisis Help, and Outreach Resources.”
“ANCHOR’s membership is composed of two members of the Charlottesville Fire Department, one member of the Charlottesville Police Department, and two mental health professionals employed by our local nonprofit partner, Partner for Mental Health (PMH),” reads the city’s website on the team.
The ANCHOR team is coordinated by the city’s Department of Human Services which provided statistics in the latest report.
“In the last 60-day period, ANCHOR responded 47 times and served 30 unique individuals,” reads the report, though it is unclear what the exact period has been. “Sixty-three percent of those responses were related to mental health, 13 percent were related to substance use, one percent were both mental health and substance use, and 17 percent were resource navigation calls not related to a crisis.”
Charlottesville’s budget for FY25 includes $720,787 for the ANCHOR team. See page 60 for confirmation of that detail.
Review underway for two pools of city affordable housing funding
Charlottesville City Council adopted an Affordable Housing Plan in March 2021 that morally commits the city to spend $10 million on various programs to build new income-restricted units and maintaining existing ones.
That money is handed out through several pools of funding including two that go by the acronyms CAHF and HOPS. CAHF is the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund and HOPS is the Housing Operations and Programs support.
The city’s Office of Community Solutions oversees the administration of these funds and the office sought applications for both in the fall.
“OCS staff received six applications for FY25 Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund (CAHF) Grant funding, totaling approximately $1.6 million,” reads the report, which also adds there is only $823,000 available in this cycle.
There were 16 applications for HOPS seeking $1.48 million in funding. There’s a total of $897,000 available.
“The CAHF committee will begin reviewing the applications in January 2025,” the report continues. “OCS staff will present the CAHF Committee’s award recommendations to the City Council.”
No meetings are currently scheduled according to the city website on the CAHF Committee. One of the city’s two calendars for online meetings also does not show any meetings scheduled.
Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the January 20, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first.
